2020 Trip to Texas

[JEBar]

with a strong arctic cold front due to roll in tomorrow, I took the time today to connect our camper to a 500 gallon propane tank .... test fired the propane furnace and will use it to heat the camper during the coming subfreezing temps .... a side benefit of doing so is testing the furnace prior to our winter trip .... in addition, we seldom heat water using propane so we will probably heat a tank to test that system .... so far, so good

[JEBar]

furnace test went well .... thermostat set on 44 degrees .... 2 nights in the low 20's .... high yesterday 40, high today in low 40's .... temp in the camper has held steady at 44 every time we've stepped in to check on things .... thermostat has once again been turned off, no subfreezing temps in the forecast for the next week or so .... tomorrow we plan to make the remaining reservations at the campgrounds where we plan to overnight on our way to Texas

[JEBar]

all campground reservations for our trip to Texas and back have now been made .... post 1 in this thread has been updated accordingly ... this will be our first major trip since switching to Dish satellite TV service .... we started using satellite TV service while traveling in a camper back in '03 .... it didn't take long to learn the wisdom of raising the issue of wanting a site with a clear view of the southern sky while booking a site .... we've found that the folks booking the sites almost always know which sites will work and which ones won't .... so far as we know, we may not need our portable satellite antenna during this trip to Texas

[JEBar]

another small item checked off of our pre-trip list .... that being to reinstall our vent cushion insulation pillows ===> https://www.amazon.com/Camco-Insulator- ... 197&sr=8-2 .... first picture shows the 14" X 14" living area powered vent .... our camper has 3 of these vents .... with only a thin plastic roof a great deal of heat can be lost .... the second and third show a vent cushion in place .... we've used the same cushions for several years .... the require no special installation, you simply push them into place, aluminum coated side up

double checked new Wally receiver and, so far, its doing fine

[JEBar]

with about 6 weeks left until we pull out for Texas, medical appointments seem to dominate our calendar .... with us on the road over half of the year and figuring in the holidays, Maureen has to schedule our physicals and other medical appoints into a pretty tight time frame ... vehicle safety inspections, servicing the Sportchassis, major tree trimming of both evergreen and hardwood trees are just part of the things on our pre-trip list that we have to take care of

[JEBar]

the morning has been spent checking more items off of the list : our day began with a breakfast meeting at a presentation by a local Audiologist designed for folks with hearing loss .... bottom line there, over the course of its projected life of the even medium level hearing equipment would end up costing a couple of thousand dollars a month .... second on the list, ended up being to get our second shingles shot .... third (after lunch), medical appointment with a Dermatologist, last, stop at Lowe's and try to find whole house water filter housing wrench to use with our camper's filter system ....

[JEBar]

another small but important pre-trip item checked off this morning .... that being renewing my NC Driver's License .... our rig requires a non-comerical Class-A License .... mine expires the end of December so getting a new one in hand well before we head for Texas .... NC allows holders of a standard Class-C driver's license with no traffic infractions to renew via the internet .... that option isn't available for holders of a Class-A so I had to spend the morning sitting in a DMV office .... it took some time but all went well and I have a temporary license to carry during the time it takes a new one to arrive in the mail

[JEBar]

another morning spent taking care of items on our pre-trip checklist .... Silverado state safety inspection, picking up some prescriptions, repairing the camper's free standing table, programming a replacement remote for the camper's entertainment center sound system .... in short, nothing major but things that had to be done

[JEBar]

it sure was cool outside this morning while I was rearranging our camper's basement storage area to accommodate our new collapsible cart .... its never required much of an effort to move things around so as to accommodate smaller items .... its been many a moon since we needed to make room for something that is bulky and heavy .... bottom line, it worked out but doing so required me to pack something that must be removed to get something else out .... oh well, its done ....

[JEBar]

our last full hookup camping prior to pulling out for Texas has come an gone .... all systems but the roof AC's were tested .... a few things still need to be taken care of : propane tanks need to be filled, both bulbs in one ceiling florescent fixture are out, need to replace water filter housing wrench , need to replace a couple of clear sewer fittings, the never ending reorganization and repacking of the basement continues, the truck is scheduled to be serviced on Tuesday, .... in short, the time between now and our departure grows smaller, hopefully the "to do" list will grow smaller at a faster pace